Author: claimsbot

We claim:

1. A dock seal disposed adjacent a doorway of a wall and being adapted to seal against a vehicle, comprising:
a head seal having a compressible core and being horizontally elongated;
a side seal being vertically elongated and extending below the head seal; and
a movable coupling adapted to couple the side seal to the wall to render the side seal vertically movable relative to both the wall and the head seal.
2. The dock seal of claim 1 wherein the head seal extends over the side seal.
3. The dock seal of claim 1, wherein the head seal and the side seal define a gap therebetween that allows the side seal to be vertically movable.
4. The dock seal of claim 1, further comprising a flexible head curtain that drapes downward to bridge the gap between the side seal and the head seal.
5. The dock seal of claim 1, wherein the side seal includes a foam interior.
6. The dock seal of claim 1, wherein the movable coupling includes a first member substantially fixed to the side seal, a second member adapted to be substantially fixed to the wall, and a connector that holds the first member to the second member while allowing relative sliding motion therebetween.
7. The dock seal of claim 6, wherein the connector includes a roller.
8. The dock seal of claim 6, further comprising a wear pad interposed between the first member and the second member, wherein the wear pad is of a first material that is distinguishable from a second material found in at least one of the first member and the second member.
9. The dock seal of claim 8, further comprising an adhesive that bonds the wear pad to at least one of the first member and the second member.
10. The dock seal of claim 8, wherein the first material is a polymer.
11. The dock seal of claim 6, wherein the connector is threaded.
12. The dock seal of claim 6, wherein at least one of the first member and the second member defines a slot through which the connector extends, such that relative sliding motion between the connector and the slot allows the side seal to move vertically relative to the wall.
13. The dock seal of claim 6, wherein the vehicle engaging the side seal places the dock seal in a sealing mode and the vehicle disengaging the side seal allows the dock seal to return to a standby mode, and the side seal is movable over a vertical range of motion having a lower limit with the side seal being substantially at the lower limit when the dock seal is in the standby mode.
14. The dock seal of claim 1, wherein the vehicle engaging the side seal places the dock seal in a sealing mode and the vehicle disengaging the side seal allows the dock seal to return to a standby mode, and the side seal is moveable over a vertical range of motion having a lower limit and an upper limit, wherein the side seal is appreciably closer to the lower limit than to the upper limit when the dock seal is in the standby mode.
15. A dock seal disposed adjacent a doorway of a wall and having a standby mode and a sealing mode, wherein a vehicle engaging the dock seal places the dock seal in the sealing mode and the vehicle disengaging the dock seal allows the dock seal to return to the standby mode, comprising:
a side seal being vertically elongated; and
a moveable coupling adapted to couple the side seal to the wall to provide the side seal with a vertical range of motion having a lower limit, wherein the side seal is substantially at the lower limit when the dock seal is in the standby mode.
16. The dock seal of claim 15, wherein the head seal extends over the side seal.
17. The dock seal of claim 15, wherein the head seal and the side seal define a gap therebetween that allows the side seal to be vertically movable.
18. The dock seal of claim 15, further comprising a flexible head curtain that drapes downward to bridge the gap between the side seal and the head seal.
19. The dock seal of claim 15, wherein the side seal includes a foam interior.
20. The dock seal of claim 15, wherein the movable coupling includes a first member substantially fixed to the side seal, a second member adapted to be substantially fixed to the wall, and a connector that holds the first member to the second member while allowing relative sliding motion therebetween.
21. The dock seal of claim 20, wherein the connector includes a roller.
22. The dock seal of claim 20, further comprising a wear pad interposed between the first member and the second member, wherein the wear pad is of a first material that is distinguishable from a second material found in at least one of the first member and the second member.
23. The dock seal of claim 22, further comprising an adhesive that bonds the wear pad to at least one of the first member and the second member.
24. The dock seal of claim 22, wherein the first material is a polymer.
25. The dock seal of claim 20, wherein the connector is threaded.
26. The dock seal of claim 20, wherein at least one of the first member and the second member defines a slot through which the connector extends, such that relative sliding motion between the connector and the slot allows the side seal to move vertically relative to the wall.
27. A dock seal disposed adjacent a doorway of a wall and having a standby mode and a sealing mode, wherein a vehicle engaging the dock seal places the dock seal in the sealing mode and the vehicle disengaging the dock seal allows the dock seal to return to the standby mode, comprising:
a side seal being vertically elongated; and
a moveable coupling adapted to couple the side seal to the wall to provide the side seal with a vertical range of motion having a lower limit and an upper limit, wherein the side seal is appreciably closer to the lower limit than to the upper limit when the dock seal is in the standby mode.
28. The dock seal of claim 27, wherein the head seal extends over the side seal.
29. The dock seal of claim 27, wherein the head seal and the side seal define a gap therebetween that allows the side seal to be vertically movable.
30. The dock seal of claim 27, further comprising a flexible head curtain that drapes downward to bridge the gap between the side seal and the head seal.
31. The dock seal of claim 27, wherein the side seal includes a foam interior.
32. The dock seal of claim 27, wherein the movable coupling includes a first member substantially fixed to the side seal, a second member adapted to be substantially fixed to the wall, and a connector that holds the first member to the second member while allowing relative sliding motion therebetween.
33. The dock seal of claim 32, wherein the connector includes a roller.
34. The dock seal of claim 32, further comprising a wear pad interposed between the first member and the second member, wherein the wear pad is of a first material that is distinguishable from a second material found in at least one of the first member and the second member.
35. The dock seal of claim 34, further comprising an adhesive that bonds the wear pad to at least one of the first member and the second member.
36. The dock seal of claim 34, wherein the first material is a polymer.
37. The dock seal of claim 32, wherein the connector is threaded.
38. The dock seal of claim 32, wherein at least one of the first member and the second member defines a slot through which the connector extends, such that relative sliding motion between the connector and the slot allows the side seal to move vertically relative to the wall.
39. The dock seal of claim 27, wherein the side seal is substantially at the lower limit when the dock seal is in the standby mode.
40. A dock seal disposed adjacent a doorway of a wall and being adapted to seal against a vehicle, comprising:
a head seal having a first compressible core and being horizontally elongated;
a side seal that includes a second compressible core, and a sealing surface adapted to be engaged by the vehicle, wherein the side seal is vertically elongated and extends below the head seal; and
a movable coupling adapted to couple the side seal to the wall to render the side seal vertically movable relative to both the wall and the head seal, wherein the second compressible core is interposed between the sealing surface and the movable coupling.

The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.

1. A composition of matter comprising an association product of a first material with a first shielding agent, said association product having a first optical profile; a second association product of a second material with a second shielding agent, said second association product having a second optical profile; and optionally a further material, said material being optionally associated with a shielding agent to form a further association product having an optical profile being different from the first and second optical profiles; wherein the combination has an optical profile being substantially an accumulation of the optical profiles of each of said association products present in the composition.
2. The composition according to claim 2, wherein each of said first, second and further materials has an optical andor electronic profile which is distinct from each of the other materials in the composition.
3. The composition according to claim 1, comprising three or more materials, each of said three or more materials being independently chemically associated with a shielding agent.
4. The composition according to claim 1, comprising three materials, each of said materials being independently chemically associated with a shielding agent.
5. The composition according to claim 1, comprising three materials, two of said materials each independently being chemically associated with a shielding agent.
6. The composition according to claim 2, wherein each of said two or more materials is selected amongst hydrophobic materials.
7. The composition according to claim 6, wherein each of said two or more materials, independently of the other, is selected from the group consisting of nanostructures and chromophores.
8. The composition according to claim 7, wherein each of said two or more materials, independently of the other, is a chromophore.
9. The composition according to claim 8, wherein said chromophore is selected from the group consisting of a polycyclic aromatic dye, a fluorescent monomer, a fluorescent polymer, a metal complex dopant and dye, a light emitting dopant and a fluorescent dye, a phthalocyanine, and a porphyrine.
10. The composition according to claim 9, wherein said chromophore is one or more of anthracene, tris(benzoylacetonato)mono(phenanthroline)europium(III) and tris-(8-hydroxyquinoline)aluminium.
11. The composition according to claim 1, wherein said first association product is of anthracene and a shielding agent, said second association product is of tris(benzoylacetonato)mono(phenanthroline)europium(III) and a shielding agent, and wherein said further association product is of tris-(8-hydroxyquinoline)aluminium and a shielding agent.
12. The composition according to claim 1, wherein said shielding agent is selected amongst solubilizing agents capable of rendering each of said first, second and further materials water soluble.
13. The composition according to claim 12, wherein said solubilizing agent comprises a polypeptide backbone, bound to sugar units.
14. The composition according to claim 13, wherein said solubilizing agent is a glycoprotein or a proteoglycan.
15. The composition according to claim 14, wherein said glycoprotein is at least one glycoprotein selected from the group consisting of mucin and transferrin.
16. The composition according to claim 15, wherein said glycoprotein is mucin.
17. The composition according to claim 1, wherein said first association product is of anthracene and mucin, said second association product is of tris(benzoylacetonato)mono(phenanthroline)europium(III) and mucin, and wherein said further association product is of tris-(8-hydroxyquinoline)aluminium and mucin.
18. The composition according to claim 1 being in a form selected from solid, an aqueous solution, a non-aqueous solution, and a film.
19. The composition according to claim 18, being in the form of an aqueous solution.
20. A device comprising a film comprising a composition according to claim 1; and optionally further comprising an electrode assembly; said device having a monolayered or multilayered structure.
21. The device according to claim 20, being selected from the groups consisting of a sensor, a humidity sensor, a light emitting diode, a solar cell, a photovoltaic cell, a light transducer, and a tag.
22. The device according to claim 20, being a multicolored organic light emitting diode (OLED).
23. The device according to claim 22, comprising a film of a composition according to claim 1, the composition being a light emitting andor carrier-transporting medium.
24. The device according to claim 22, being a multilayered OLED having a sandwich-like structure comprising a cathode; at least one film of a composition according to claim 1; and an anode.
25. The device according to claim 24, wherein said OLED being covered or encapsulated with a protecting layer.
26. The device according to claim 20, wherein the composition comprises three association products, each being of a material and mucin, one of said materials emitting in the red region of the electromagnetic spectrum, the second material emitting in the green region of the electromagnetic spectrum and the third emitting in the blue region of the electromagnetic spectrum.
27. A solid film comprising a composition according to claim 1.
28. The film according to claim 27, comprising a material emitting in the red region of the electromagnetic spectrum, a material emitting in the green region of the electromagnetic spectrum and a material emitting in the blue region of the electromagnetic spectrum, each of said materials being chemically associated with mucin.
29. A method of preparing a composition according to claim 1, the method comprising obtaining a water solution of at least one shielding agent, and adding thereto at least one material to obtain an association product between each of said at least one materials and said at least one shielding agents.
30. A method of preparing a solid film of a composition according to claim 1, the method comprising applying a solution comprising a composition according to claim 1 on at least a portion of a surface of a substrate, and drying the solvent of the applied solution to thereby obtain a film on said at least a portion of the surface.

1. A power supply device comprising:
a DC converter circuit including a rectifier circuit and first and second smoothing capacitors, which are connected in series and arranged between two power lines at an output side of the rectifier circuit, wherein the DC converter circuit rectifies and smooths input AC power and converts the input AC power into DC voltage;
an inverter circuit including a bridge circuit of first to fourth switching elements, wherein predetermined sets of the first to fourth switching elements are alternately activated and deactivated to convert the DC voltage to a predetermined AC voltage;
an auxiliary switching circuit including an auxiliary capacitor, which is connected between the two power lines between the DC converter circuit and the inverter circuit, fifth and sixth switching elements respectively arranged on the two power lines between the DC converter circuit and the auxiliary capacitor, seventh and eighth switching elements connected in series between the two power lines between the auxiliary capacitor and the first and sixth switching elements, and a switching unit that connects or disconnects a first node of the first and second smoothing capacitors and a second node of the seventh and eighth switching elements, wherein
the switching unit disconnects the first and second nodes when the input AC power has a first voltage value to supply a voltage across two terminals of the first and second smoothing capacitors to the inverter circuit, and
the switching unit connects the first and second nodes when the input AC power has a second voltage value that is two times greater than the first voltage value so that soft switching control is performed by activating and deactivating predetermined sets of the fifth to eighth switching elements, alternately supplying the inverter circuit with a voltage across the terminals of the first or second smoothing capacitor, and deactivating a predetermined one of the fifth to eighth switching elements before the first to fourth switching elements are deactivated to stop the voltage supplied to the inverter circuit;

a pulse width modulation control unit that adjusts an on pulse width of a control pulse signal provided to the first to fourth switching elements and adjusts an on pulse width of a control pulse signal provided to the fifth to eighth switching elements in accordance with the adjusted width;
a phase shift control unit that adjusts a phase difference of two control pulse signals provided to the same set of switching elements in the first to fourth switching elements or adjusts a phase difference of two control pulse signals provided to predetermined ones of the first to fourth switching elements and corresponding ones of the fifth to eighth switching elements; and
a control switching unit that operates the pulse width modulation control unit when a relatively large output is requested and operates the phase shift control unit when a relatively small output is requested,
wherein the control switching unit operates the phase shift control unit when an output is requested that may result in the on pulse width being smaller than the predetermined narrow pulse width to adjust a phase of the control pulse signal in a state in which the on pulse width of the control pulse signal provided to the first to fourth switching elements is fixed at a first narrow pulse width and the on pulse width of the control pulse signal provided to the fifth to eighth switching elements is fixed at a second narrow pulse width.
2. The power supply device according to claim 1, wherein the control switching unit operates the pulse width modulation control unit when an output is requested that sets the on pulse width to be larger than a predetermined narrow pulse width allowing for each of the switching elements to be sufficiently activated.
3. The power supply device according to claim 1, wherein the phase shift control unit adjusts the phase of the control pulse signal provided to the first to eighth switching elements so that the fifth to eighth switching elements are deactivated before the first to fourth switching elements are deactivated.
4. The power supply device according to claim 1, further comprising a switch control unit that controls the switching unit to connect the first and second nodes when the input AC power has the second voltage value and disconnects the first and second nodes when the input AC power has the first voltage value.
5. An arc machining power supply device comprising:
the power supply device according to claim 1; and
a rectifier circuit that rectifies the predetermined AC voltage provided from the power supply device and generates an arc machining voltage for performing arc machining on a machining subject.

The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.

1. A semiconductor device fabrication method comprising:
forming a second material film over a first material film formed over a work substrate, the first and second material films being different in material;
forming a first resist layer over the second material film;
performing a first exposure process on the first resist layer to form a first resist pattern of a uniform pattern density, the first resist pattern including a desired pattern and a dummy pattern;
forming a second material film pattern by doing anisotropic dry etching of the second material film using the first resist pattern as a mask;
removing the first resist pattern;
forming a second resist layer to cover the second material film pattern after the first resist pattern is removed;
performing a second exposure process on the second resist layer to form a second resist pattern, the second resist pattern covering a first part of the second material film pattern corresponding to the desired pattern;
removing a second part of the second material film pattern corresponding to the dummy pattern using the second resist pattern as a mask;
removing the second resist pattern; and
doing anisotropic dry etching of the first material film using the first part of the second material film pattern as a mask.
2. A semiconductor device fabrication method comprising:
forming a second material film over a first material film formed over a work substrate, the first and second material films being different in material;
forming a first resist layer over the second material film;
performing a first exposure process on the first resist layer to form a first resist pattern of a uniform pattern density, the first resist pattern including a desired pattern and a dummy pattern;
slimming the first resist pattern;
forming a second material film pattern by doing anisotropic dry etching of the second material film using the slimmed first resist pattern as a mask;
removing the slimmed first resist pattern;
forming a second resist layer to cover the second material film pattern after the slimmed first resist pattern is removed;
performing a second exposure process on the second resist layer to form a second resist pattern, the second resist pattern covering a first part of the second material film pattern corresponding to the desired pattern;
removing a second part of the second material film pattern corresponding to the dummy pattern using the second resist pattern as a mask;
removing the second resist pattern; and
doing anisotropic dry etching of the first material film using the first part of the second material film pattern as a mask.
3. A semiconductor device fabrication method comprising:
forming a second material film over a first material film formed over a work substrate, the first and second material films being different in material;
forming a first resist layer over the second material film;
performing a first exposure process on the first resist layer to form a first resist pattern of a uniform pattern density, the first resist pattern including a desired pattern and a dummy pattern;
forming a second material film pattern by doing anisotropic dry etching of the second material film using the first resist pattern as a mask;
removing the first resist pattern;
slimming the second material film pattern;
forming a second resist layer to cover the slimmed second material film pattern;
performing a second exposure process on the second resist layer to form a second resist pattern, the second resist pattern covering a first part of the slimmed second material film pattern corresponding to the desired pattern;
removing a second part of the slimmed second material film pattern corresponding to the dummy pattern using the second resist pattern as a mask;
removing the second resist pattern; and
doing anisotropic dry etching of the first material film using the first part of the slimmed second material film pattern as a mask.
4. A semiconductor device fabrication method comprising:
forming a second material film over a first material film formed over a work substrate, the first and second material films being different in material;
forming a first resist layer over the second material film;
performing a first exposure process on the first resist layer to form a first resist pattern of a uniform pattern density, the first resist pattern including a desired pattern and a dummy pattern;
slimming the first resist pattern;
forming a second material film pattern by doing anisotropic dry etching of the second material film using the slimmed first resist pattern as a mask;
removing the slimmed first resist pattern;
slimming the second material film pattern;
forming a second resist layer to cover the slimmed second material film pattern;
performing a second exposure process on the second resist layer to form a second resist pattern, the second resist pattern covering a first part of the slimmed second material film pattern corresponding to the desired pattern;
removing a second part of the slimmed second material film pattern corresponding to the dummy pattern using the second resist pattern as a mask;
removing the second resist pattern; and
doing anisotropic dry etching of the first material film using the first part of the slimmed second material film pattern remained in the part corresponding to the desired pattern as a mask.
5. The semiconductor device fabrication method according to claim 1, wherein the second material film is made up of at least one of a hard mask material film, an anti-reflection material film, and a planarization material film.
6. The semiconductor device fabrication method according to claim 1, wherein the second material film is made up of at least one of a silicon oxidation (SiO2) film, a silicon nitride (Si3N4) film, a silicon oxynitride (SiON) film, an aluminum oxide (Al2O3) film, a silicon carbide (SiC) film, and a carbon (C) film.
7. The semiconductor device fabrication method according to claim 1, wherein a gate layer pattern for transistors is formed by the process of doing anisotropic dry etching of the first material film.